The design for this one should be obvious.
Obviously,
- Vowels form the big ring.
- Voice and unvoiced consonantal pairs tend to be grouped:
- B and P
- S and Z
- T and D
- G and K
- V and F
- V has some special friends.
- U and V, being once used interchangeably,
are found side-by-side.
- W, being the little brother of
V that just acts bigger to boost its ego, likewise appears nearby.
- Some letters that are alphabetically close are placed physically
close:
- L, M, and N form a line. They
are also close to R since they can all be vowel-like.
(This also places them near the middle of the vowel ring.)
- The aforementioned W, U, and V lie in
a line, and lie in a game of poker, so be careful.
- W also
seems to be found near its alphabet buddy X (sing the song
and you'll see what I mean!)
- H, I, and J are linear, especially
since I and J are evil twins
(both twins, both evil).
- G and K form a teeny line that hangs out with
H, I, and J.
- R goes near D and L near Z since,
when strongly anunciated, these liquids resemble those consonants.
- Y joins R and L as a liquid, and gravitates,
of course, toward I.
- Q and X are often used in transliterations to
denote uvular flaps that resemble the breathy consonant H,
placing H across the board from them.
- Q and X also share the property of being used
almost exclusively in phonetic clusters with K, directly
opposite the board.
- A and B as well as D and E
are in proximity since they form in-order pairs, likewise
P and Q.
- C is a curvy letter resembling O which often takes the
sound of S, thus drawing those two near.
"Well, of course!" you say.